“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” —Walt Disney

“Dream and give yourself permission to envision a you that you choose to be.”—Joy Page

Drawing Out Your Thoughts

Ever find yourself doodling in the margins of your paper? Experts say that what you are drawing can reveal your feelings—even subconscious ones. A look at what you and your friends are sketching may reveal more than meets the eye.

Hearts. Unsurprisingly, hearts suggest romance on the brain. Writing names over and over signifies obsession.

History of Head Scratchers

For centuries, people have been exercising their minds with word and number puzzles. In honor of National Puzzle Day on Jan. 29, here’s a look at the origins of some popular brainteasers:

Crossword. In 1913, the New York World published a “word cross” devised by Arthur Wynne of Liverpool, England. It was an instant hit, but other newspapers were slow to follow suit. In 1924, a new publishing company called Simon & Schuster came out with a book of crosswords, igniting a nationwide craze.

Word search. The first English version of the puzzle where you find and circle words was published in 1968. Norman E. Gibat designed it for a want-ad digest in Norman, Okla. He arranged the names of 34 Oklahoma cities horizontally, vertically and diagonally in a grid. Area teachers started using the puzzles in their classrooms, and soon they were being syndicated nationally.

Sudoku. The puzzle’s name is Japanese, but its origins are European and American. In the 1700s, Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler created a grid game called Latin Squares, where numbers appeared only once in each row and column. Fast-forward to the 1970s, when Dell Magazines published Howard Garns’ Number Place game, which was inspired by Euler’s puzzle. In the 1980s, the puzzles took Japan by storm, and sudoku fever gradually worked its way back to the U.S. By 2005, most U.S. daily newspapers were offering a sudoku.

“The nice thing about doing a crossword puzzle is you know there is a solution.”

New Year’s resolutions

Resolutions for Success:

Sometimes the problem is the resolution itself. If it’s too hard to keep, it’s a setup for disappointment. Here are some tips for making resolutions that stick:

Be flexible. Resolutions such as “I will go to the gym every day” present you with a near-impossible task. The goal is to work out most days, so start off by planning to go to the gym four times a week. This allows for any unforeseen circumstances without wrecking your resolution.

Be specific. “I will eat more vegetables” is an admirable thought, but the approach lacks focus. Instead, choose a specific resolution such as “I will eat five servings of vegetables a day.”

Be realistic. A resolution such as “I will lose 20 pounds by February” is unreasonable and may be unhealthy. Consider what you are likely to achieve as well as the results you want.

Be accountable. “I will run a marathon” is a worthy ambition. But when? With 12 months to go in the year, picking a vague, far-off goal merely defers your dream. Instead, choose a marathon far enough into the future to allow time for training but not so far away that your dream will run away from you.

New Tricks for Leftover Holiday Treats

You probably still have some festive foods you don’t know what to do with. Don’t throw them away. Instead, use a little creativity to turn leftover holiday treats into tasty new concoctions.

Countless candy canes? Heat up some cocoa and use a candy cane as a stirring stick. It mixes the chocolate with the milk while adding a refreshing minty flavor. Or, crush up the candy and mix it into vanilla frosting for cupcakes.

Overflowing oatmeal cookies? Melt some chocolate chips, spread on one cookie, add sprinkles, and top with another cookie to make a sweet sandwich snack. This tip works for any kind of cookie, including gingerbread men.

Extra eggnog? Use eggnog instead of creamer in your coffee for a rich, spicy flavor. Not a coffee drinker? Eggnog makes excellent French toast. Soak bread slices in eggnog before frying them to golden-brown perfection.

Abundance of fruitcake? Reinvent a fruitcake by chopping it up in a food processor and rolling into balls. Melt chocolate and dip the fruitcake balls to create a new twist on an old favorite.

With a little planning and creativity, you can turn leftover holiday goodies into tasty treats that are sure to hit the spot even the second time around.